Where Are the Voices of Repentance
Today?
John the Baptist was perhaps one
of or in other words the most unusual preacher GOD ever called into the
ministry. Unlike today’s preachers he never sought sophisticated and comfort
zone to preach the word that he had received from heaven as today’s preachers
seek. Instead Day after day JOHN THE
BAPTIST went out to the hot dusty JUDEAN DESERT to preach the one sermon that
BURNED in his soul like a blazing fire “Repent......for the kingdom of heaven is near.” His preaching was not decked adorned with any homiltical
structure and with POINTS and SUBPOINTS either. He had never used illustrations
or tear jerking stories or jokes to charm and capture the minds of his audience.
His message was just a simple straightforward, powerful and cut right to the
very soul of his audience.......... “Repent.....for the kingdom of heaven is near!”
He had never preached THE HEALTH AND WEALTH GOSPEL. He didn’t
PROMISE PEOPLE boats and cars and abundant earnings beyond what we need. HE didn’t sell people “Prayer Cloths” or “Angel
Lapel Pins” or “Blessed Fish Symbol Necklaces.” HE JUST PREACHED THE MESSAGE OF
REPENTANCE! JOHN THE BAPTIST never
preached the sweet quoted sermon to please PEOPLE. HE was preaching to PLEASE
GOD!
In a day and time when all the
religious leaders were preaching their VAIN HUMAN TRADITIONS, John the Baptist
stood as GOD’S LONE VOICE OF TRUTH to SINFUL MAN! Whereas the PREACHING of the
PHARISEES and SADDUCEES drove people farther and farther away from GOD JOHN’S preaching
DROVE PEOPLE BACK TO GOD! That was the message of REPENTENCE. Throughout
history, GOD has always raised up men to preach REPENTANCE! Repentance has
never been a POPULAR MESSAGE and those who have preached it have never been
POPULAR PREACHERS.
THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS preached repentance!
·
JOHN
THE BAPTIST preached repentance!
·
JESUS
CHRIST preached repentance!
·
THE
APOSTLES preached repentance!
·
OUR
GREAT RESTORATION FOREFATHERS preached repentance!
·
The
great revivalists and missionaries of yester centuries preached repentance!
Where Are the Voices of Repentance Today? We hear the
VOICES of love and mercy and grace. We hear the VOICES of health and wealth and
prosperity. We hear the VOICES of positive thinking and the “I’m OK, you’re OK”
theology. But where are the VOICES crying out for THE REPENTANCE OF SINFUL MAN?
·
Is the
MESSAGE of REPENTANCE outdated?
·
Is it
TOO OLD-FASHIONED?
·
Is it
IRRELEVANT to our lives today?
To this era of technology and to
this contemporary context the message of REPENTANCE needs to be preached from
every pulpit across the universe. God’s plan for the families marred and deformed,
today’s youths have become wild and wayward, our society is filled with sexual
immorality, inhuman acts and violence can be seen everywhere and the churches
have become dead and inactive it miserably failed shine the light of salvation because
the PREACHERS have stopped preaching REPENTANCE!
Many who call themselves
CHRISTIANS lived for the DEVIL before they became a CHRISTIAN and they are
STILL LIVING FOR THE DEVIL. Our church pews today are filled with CHURCH
MEMBERS who want to ......DRINK UP! SHOOT UP! SHACK UP! STIR UP! ACT UP! and PARTY UP! But
don’t want to: STRAIGHTEN UP! CLEAN UP! FESS UP! GIVE UP! or LOOK UP!
Dear friends God did not send his One and Only Son here to
die on a cross just so you and I could go on living the same old sinful lives
we’ve always lived. He sent His Son here to die on the Cross to save our
wretched souls in order that we might become a brand new creation! II CORINTHIANS 5: 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Do you know what that means? That means if you have truly
surrendered your life to Jesus Christ......
Ø YOUR TALK will be new!
Ø YOUR THOUGHTS will be new!
Ø YOUR HABITS will be new!
Ø YOUR ATTITUDE will be new!
Ø YOUR PRIORITIES will be new!
Ø YOUR DESIRES will be new!
Ø YOUR LIFESTYLE will be new!
Ø YOUR FRIENDS will be new!
My friend, if you still TALK THE WAY YOU USED TO TALK
THINK THE WAY
YOU USED TO THINK
ACT LIKE
YOU USED TO ACT
LIVE LIKE
YOU USED TO LIVE
CRAVE WHAT
YOU USED TO CRAVE
CHEAT LIKE
YOU USED TO CHEAT
GOSSIP LIKE
YOU USED TO GOSSIP
LIE LIKE
YOU USED TO LIE
LUST LIKE
YOU USED TO LUST
SWEAR LIKE
YOU USED TO SWEAR
DRINK LIKE
YOU USED TO DRINK
Then the TRUTH is you haven’t
truly REPENTED…….And I John 3:9,10 says, No one who is born of GOD will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of GOD. This is how we know who the children of GOD are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is NOT A CHILD OF GOD; nor is anyone who does NOT LOVE HIS BROTHER.
Brothers and sisters do you
understand what GOD is telling us? He is telling us “NO CHILD OF MINE WILL
CONTINUE IN A LIFE OF SIN.” A TRUE CHILD OF GOD WILL REPENT OF HIS OR HER
SINFUL WAYS. WHEN YOU GENUINELY
REPENT..............You don’t feel sorry for the PAIN your SIN has caused
you..........You feel SORRY FOR THE PAIN YOUR SIN HAS CAUSED GOD! GENUINE
REPENTANCE is when we can look inside the VERY HEART OF GOD and feel the PAIN,
the SHAME and the DISHONOR our sin has brought upon His Holy Name. GENUINE
REPENTANCE is when you can look at the CROSS and say, “Oh dear JESUS, MY SINS
did this to you........MY SINS put you there! And when you experience that kind
of GODLY SORROW.......you FORSAKE YOUR SINS.........YOU WALK AWAY FROM YOUR SINS..........THROUGH
THE POWER OF GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT YOU AMPUTATE THAT SIN FROM YOUR LIFE AND THROW
IT AWAY ONCE AND FOR ALL!
CONCLUSION: ACTS 17: 30 In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. Today......more than ever
before, WE NEED A VOICE TO CRY OUT IN THIS WILDERNESS. We need a VOICE that loves GOD
and hates SIN! We need a VOICE that LIFTS UP RIGHT and TEARS DOWN WRONG! We
need a voice that LEADS PEOPLE AWAY FROM SIN and TOWARD JESUS CHRIST. We need a
voice that will NOT change GOD’S MESSAGE OF REPENTANCE........NO matter how
much the times change. John the Baptist was the Preacher with One Sermon. It
was a sermon that made him UNPOPULAR and eventually COST him his life, when he
called for the REPENTANCE of HEROD and HERODIAS. If you know in your heart your
life is not right with GOD then it is time to get right. The road to healing the
road to wholeness and sweet fellowship with God starts the moment you come out
with your hands up and say, “God, I SURRENDER ALL!
